Written Examination Update

Updated: January 16, 2018

Important Announcement for the 2018 Written Examination: In 2018, the ABCN Written Examination will undergo item review and update, which will change the schedule of exams. Specifically, Windows 2 and 3 (previously scheduled for May and August) will be collapsed into a longer, four-week examination window in June and July. Given the potential inconvenience of this schedule change, candidates who register to take the Written Examination in June and July 2018 will be offered a one-time discount of $100 off the ABCN/ABPP examination registration fee (i.e., June or July 2018 exam = $200 registration + PSI seat fee).

We anticipate that score reports from the June and July 2018 examination window will be made available to candidates by late August. We understand that some candidates may have planned to take the written examination in the May 2018 window in anticipation of submitting a Practice Sample by the October 1 deadline (for consideration of being seated at the Spring 2019 oral examination). To accommodate those candidates, ABCN will extend the Practice Sample deadline to October 15, 2018.

Please see the following links for more detailed information regarding the updated Written Examination:

The ABCN Written Examination is now being administered in the PSI Examination Centers, a network of examination sites throughout North America that should allow us to continue to provide convenient access to testing centers. PSI has over 300 locations across the US and Canada and the full list will be made available in the PSI scheduling portal when you register. This change in examination centers became necessary when our contract with our former test development company was not renewed, and we lost discounted access to their preferred test administration network. Financial challenges forced our former test company out of this sector of the test development business. No longer having discounted access to a testing network means that the ABCN Written Examination fee must increase in order to reflect the full actual cost of administering the examination.

ABCN has not increased its fee for the written exam in well over a decade; however, the “seat fee” charged by the test administration center has increased with the change to the new test vendor. The ABCN Board has voted to help ease the financial burden of this change in cost on our examination candidates for as long as is fiscally possible. Hence, we will absorb much of the added seat fee expense over the next several written examination windows and gradually phase in the seat fee increase over time. Specifically, ABCN will cover the full increase in the exam fee ($225 per candidate taking the exam) for 2016 Exam Windows 1 & 2. Beginning with Window #3 in August 2016, candidates will be asked to pay an increase of $95. Further fee increases will be phased in over subsequent years according the schedule below.

2016- first and second windows – no increase in fee
2016- third and fourth windows – $95.00 increase for a $160 total seat fee (with the total exam cost including the seat fee being $460)
2017 – all windows – $65 increase for a $225 total seat fee (with the total exam cost including the seat fee being $525)
2018 – all windows – $65 increase for a $290 total seat fee (with the total exam cost including the seat fee being $590)

While we regret any fee increase, we are not immune from the market forces that dictate what we are charged by the companies we contract for our examinations. ABCN is an all-volunteer professional organization that makes no income from any aspect of board certification. Board members are not reimbursed for the expense of attending our meetings, and examiners only receive travel expense coverage when administering the oral portion of the exam. All ABCN fees go to cover the expense of developing and administering examinations to certify neuropsychologists for professional practice. The countless hours spent by our volunteers reflects their commitment to serving the profession and the public. We appreciate the commitment you demonstrate as well by pursuit of board certification in clinical neuropsychology.